In its most basic form, a shipping label is printed with the recipient's name and address and affixed to a shipping container in order to facilitate delivery of the shipping container. Frequently, however, it is advantageous to have more than the delivery address on the outside of a shipping container. For example, it is often desirable to have other variable information, such as a packing list and special instructions, on the exterior of the shipping container. Additionally, shippers frequently want fixed material, such as advertising and the like, to be included with every shipping container. It is also desirable to have a return shipping label included with the shipping container to facilitate returns to the original shipper.
In response to these requirements, shipping labels are generally printed onto forms, inserted into clear plastic envelopes and affixed to the exterior of the shipping container so that the recipient's name and address are visible to package handlers. Such forms are usually multiple layered, especially when advertising is included. Printing the delivery address and other variable information on the inner layers of multi-layers forms requires carbon paper between the layers (or the layers must be made of carbonless paper) and requires that an impact printer print on the outer layer. Impact printers are notoriously slow and unreliable, because the forms must have tractor-feed punched edges that often rip during printing. Further, the print from impact printers can be unclear, even on the outerlayer, and the quality of the print on the inner layer is dependent on the quality of the carbon paper and the force of the impact printer. Printing variable information on some layers and not others requires carbon paper with the ink only in certain sections. Further, it may also be necessary to remove carbon paper layers from a shipping label prior to shipping so as to eliminate the problem of extraneous marks being created on some layers. All of these factors increase the cost of multilayered shipping labels. Further, these labels must then be folded and inserted into the clear plastic envelope, frequently by hand. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a shipping label that can be clearly printed with all desired information and may be affixed to a shipping container with minimal human handling.
One object of the present invention is to provide a shipping envelope that can be printed by virtually any printer, including non-impact printers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shipping envelope that may be machine assembled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shipping envelope that can contain variable shipment information, such as packing lists, instructions, etc.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shipping envelope that may be preprinted with fixed information, such as advertising and company identification.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shipping envelope that includes a return label to facilitate returns to the sender.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a one-piece, multi-purpose shipping label for ease of handling.